What did Fort Wayne baseball look like in the 1920s and 1930s? League Park, located on the grounds of present day Headwaters Park West was the home of teams like the Chiefs and hosted exhibitions against numerous major league clubs including Babe Ruth’s Yankees.
Page 557 in The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River by Griswold, B. J. (Bert Joseph), 1873-1927, league baseball park on Calhoun street, north of Superior street. The Baseball field was located where Headwaters Park and county jail, formerly Jailhouse Flats, are today between the confluence of the three rivers, Superior and Clinton Streets. A wooden structure was erected at the park in 1883. Rebuilt several times, the place received a major overhaul in 1908 with new grandstands and a grass infield. After the damage caused by the Great Flood of 1913, additional restoration was required. It was readied as a host park for semi-pro Central League teams, including the Lifers when they moved up to a minor league status. That 1927 exhibition season, League Park’s grandstand was filled with more than 3,000 fans, occupying all sitting and standing room. Enthusiastic Fort Wayne fans streamed in, eager to witness high drama from Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and the other Yankee legends. The fans were not disappointed, as they sensed Babe’s charge into the annals of American history. Copied from Babe Ruth: A Big Hit in Fort Wayne by Tom Castaldi, local historianpublished August 24, 2016 on Indiana Historical Bureau blog. The last two of Fort Wayne’s 12 major-league games were played at League Park in 1902. These American League regular-season contests were played in Fort Wayne, Indiana, by the Cleveland Bronchos in order to circumvent the Sunday blue laws in Cleveland.
Photos of a stone with a plaque about the June 2, 1883 was posted March 13, 2022 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook. A monument was funded at and placed by Poinsatte Motors. Geoff Paddock when asked where the monument plaque is now said he believes it was taken away during land prep for Headwaters Park.
Photos of a Poinsatte Chrysler Plymouth pamphlet on their 50th anniversary showing a commemorative plaque in a bolder at 200 South Clinton Street posted April 17, 2024 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook. Comments include night baseball newspaper stories June 3, 1883 Fort Wayne Daily Gazette page 8 Under the Midnight Sun and September 20, 1880 Experiment with Electric Lights The Recorder, Greenfield, Massachusetts, page 1.
WILL CLASH WITH LINCOLN LIFERS IN EXHIBITION GAME AT LEAGUE PARK
Appearance of McGraw's Famous Major Leaguers, Now In Desperate Fight for Pennant Honors of National, Will Prove Rare Treat for Fans of These Parte; Monster Crowd Predicted
Baseball fans of these their parts who have been following the fortunes of New York Giants in recent spurt pennantward will in the announcement made last night to the effect that negotiations have been closed for their appearance at League park on Wednesday, August 18, in an exhibition game against the Lincoln Lifes.
Manager Cleary has been keeping the mails and wires hot these past several weeks in an effort to make good his word given out previous to the game with the Philadelphia Athletics to the effect that if the fans showed by their support of the big time attractions that they really desired them he would exert himself to get them here. The closing with the Giants is the second big league club now booked here the Philadelphia Nationals, with Ralph Miller, local star, at third, being scheduled for League park on September 1, and there'll be others, declared Cleary, if the fans turn out in sufficient numbers at these.
August 18 1920 Giants defeated the Lifers 3-1 at League Park which is currently the west side of Headwaters Park. Attendance was 2,000
The Giants finished second in the National League that season.
The “ rest of the story “ here. There were 5 future MLB hall of famers at this game
Giants manager John McGraw
Giants 1baseman George Kelly
Giants third baseman Frankie Frisch
Giants pitching coach Christy Mathewson
Giants 2 baseman in the game who actually was a coach not a full time player Johnny Evers. You may remember him from the Cubs infield of Tinker to Evers to Chance fame.
